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having a band is no tool to lose weight, its will power

WeightlossDreamer said:
lol! he is right about the fizz i like amaretto sours!
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cherry sours is lovely but better with coke :p i have tried all kinds a drink to find a different one to drink but can find one i like so as i have no problems with what i have been drinking i got stick with it but i promised myself that i will try to stop for new year but im not having a bet on it :eek:
 
Hi Traceystevo
I have just read your thread.
Like you I have not lost weight since January this year, 6 months after my band was fitted. I feel I have little support from my provider in that I've never seen my consultant since I left the hospital and my only dietician support has been via telephone and I was told on 2 occasions that they couldn't understand why I was unhappy when I had lost 40% of my excess weight.
So thinking, like you, that I had wasted 5K i searched the Internet and sought help from a different provider. I was given a barium swallow and they were amazed I had not had one with my original provider. On finding my band was well positioned I then had an appointment with a consultant, a nurse and a face to face consultation with a dietician. This cost me £600 but thinking I had wasted 5K already it was worth it to me.
I was told that the band does not work for everyone and I have since recieved a letter from the consultant for my GP which also states this. I was also told if I had gone to this provider initially I would have been recommended for a bypass going on my life style, dieting history etc. None of which were ever discussed with the provider I went with. So I went with a cheaper provider but feel if I had thought to spent an extra 1K in the first instance I would be in a better position now!! I had .75mls removed from my band as they felt it was too tight so now have around 5mls or less in it.
Anyway here's what the dietician recommended for me:
3 Ramekin dish sized meals a day. Consisting of protein, veg and a minimal amount of carb. Her example was a very small new potato or half a whole meal pitta bread toasted and stuffed with protein and crunchy salad and veg. I was advised she only works with what she termed 'real food' so no crackers, crisp breads, cereal bars etc
Leave at least 1 minute between swallowing and the next tiny mouthful.
The thing I was advised to watch on You tube was '8 Golden Rules' by Paul O'Brien. It's a set of 4 short videos and one is very interesting where it shows what happens of you eat too fast. It definitely helped make sense of things to me regarding being sick etc.
I'm due to see the nurse and dietician again this week and am waiting until them to get weighed but in myself I'm feeling a lot better for eating better foods and my clothes are feeling looser.
I am also thinking if I could justify getting a loan for 10K for a revision to bypass if this doesn't work. I'm not sure I could so I will be keeping at it for a while longer.
Good luck and I hope you get sorted really soon.
Craxy Lady x
 
8 golden rules is excellent for understanding the mechanics of the band, I remember watching it when I was researching different surgeries.
Glad things seem to be a bit more positive for you crazy lady!
 
Crazy Lady said:
Hi Traceystevo
I have just read your thread.
Like you I have not lost weight since January this year, 6 months after my band was fitted. I feel I have little support from my provider in that I've never seen my consultant since I left the hospital and my only dietician support has been via telephone and I was told on 2 occasions that they couldn't understand why I was unhappy when I had lost 40% of my excess weight.
So thinking, like you, that I had wasted 5K i searched the Internet and sought help from a different provider. I was given a barium swallow and they were amazed I had not had one with my original provider. On finding my band was well positioned I then had an appointment with a consultant, a nurse and a face to face consultation with a dietician. This cost me £600 but thinking I had wasted 5K already it was worth it to me.
I was told that the band does not work for everyone and I have since recieved a letter from the consultant for my GP which also states this. I was also told if I had gone to this provider initially I would have been recommended for a bypass going on my life style, dieting history etc. None of which were ever discussed with the provider I went with. So I went with a cheaper provider but feel if I had thought to spent an extra 1K in the first instance I would be in a better position now!! I had .75mls removed from my band as they felt it was too tight so now have around 5mls or less in it.
Anyway here's what the dietician recommended for me:
3 Ramekin dish sized meals a day. Consisting of protein, veg and a minimal amount of carb. Her example was a very small new potato or half a whole meal pitta bread toasted and stuffed with protein and crunchy salad and veg. I was advised she only works with what she termed 'real food' so no crackers, crisp breads, cereal bars etc
Leave at least 1 minute between swallowing and the next tiny mouthful.
The thing I was advised to watch on You tube was '8 Golden Rules' by Paul O'Brien. It's a set of 4 short videos and one is very interesting where it shows what happens of you eat too fast. It definitely helped make sense of things to me regarding being sick etc.
I'm due to see the nurse and dietician again this week and am waiting until them to get weighed but in myself I'm feeling a lot better for eating better foods and my clothes are feeling looser.
I am also thinking if I could justify getting a loan for 10K for a revision to bypass if this doesn't work. I'm not sure I could so I will be keeping at it for a while longer.
Good luck and I hope you get sorted really soon.
Craxy Lady x
Click to expand...
hi i will take in what you say, the only time i get suport from my provider is if i ring them. the thg group never for once asked or surgested any thing else to me just how was i going to pay, ive only had phone calls from dietitian and i could tell them anything what would they know is true, no face to face meetings but im not giving up i willl keep going ive had a few tips from people on here and some are great i hope you do well and good luck :confused:
 
If you ask for face to face with the dietician THG will arrange your fills on days when the dietician is in the clinic. I've found face to face much more useful than phone calls.
 
Hi Sarah.
The dietician does not appear to come to the Southampton clinic and the nurse is only there once and occasionally twice a week so even fitting fills in around my shifts is difficult as my employer does not allow medical appointments during shift time.

Hi Traceystevo
THG didn't discuss anything with me other than when the surgery could take place and if I could leave the deposit there and then - lol
I agree I also could tell the dietician anything over the phone and she wouldn't know any different. I could quite easily have told her I had lost 5 stone instead of 2 and she would have been none the wiser.
Keep going and I hope things are getting better for you?
 
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Blimey, I can't believe the difference between the different clinics - there's a nurse in every day and I dietician at least once a week at the Liverpool clinic.

Have they given you the PDF files of suggested diet (think the document is headed advice for week 5 onwards), how the band works, choosing texture, food groups, key behaviours etc? If not drop me a pm and I can email then across to you. I've also got the email of the main dietician at Dolan park if that would be a help.
 
RaeB said:
I don't think anyone is saying the point of opinion is not valid Bella's Band. It is true that the band doesn't work for some and I would think most of us are keeh to understand why that is. We're not saying it's wrong.

All I see here is a lot of people trying to support, provide guidance and share their tips and hints. Surely it's always better to give it another go with support than give up and say it doesn't work, people considering surgery should see this too.
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Hi, I did not mean to imply anyone was stating such views as mine not valid, apologies for the misunderstanding. I am not and never have been a huge portion eater. I believe this is great for those with portion control issues, but that is not me and I stated so to my surgeon before the op. I think it is a massive perception out there if you are over weight you are eating vast amounts, especially take always and fast foods, and hand on my heart I eat neither with the exception of a fish supper maybe twice a year when the fancy takes. I never set foot in places like McDonald,s.
For me my issue is a sweet tooth and the band does nothing to eradicate that. I was told the band would leave me feeling fuller on a smaller portion (in the end I could not even down a boiled egg, how much smaller a portion did my lunch need to be lol) I was left only managing the smallest of portions but still feeling completely hungry. I would get pains in my ribs, pains in my chest like a heart attack was on its way, it was just all round a totally unpleasant experience and still I was not loosing weight.
I followed all the rules, pushed and pushed and in the end I just had to accept it was not going to work for me and had the band defillled.
It was not a tool that helped me, if it helps 90 out of 100 that's great, more power to you. But for the other 10 of us, we don't need to be told if you just stick to a diet it will work, because if we could just stick to diets we would not have elected for the surgery in the first place lol. Lets face it none of us has wls because "diets" work, am I right? We have it because we have tried everything under the sun and we are looking for something to give us an edge, an advantage, and all I am saying without criticising anyone personally, is for some of us the band holds no advantage.
I had some great support here and some wonderful advice from some great users but still it's not for me and I would never have known without giving it a try, but its an expensive " try" monetary physically and emotionally.
Just putting an opposing view not dissing anyone else personal experience :)

PS I have been ''dieting'' for 30 years, I hardly think that is giving up. But as many professionals now state all over the world Diets don't work! I think I have more than paid my diet dues, and said, time for me to get of this dieting carousel and try something new. Peace!
 
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@Minn no I have not updated my stats for the best part of a year I am now 18.13 and was 19.09 at my heaviest when starting the band journey. :)
 
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